Wente Road Race - Sat. April 25, 2009

Photo: MEA coming up on the inside in Webcor green

W Cat4

Place: 19

Field: 47

I was really looking forward to this race and had high expectations - expectations that unfortunately that were not realized. It was a learning experience in race strategy. I raced in the W4 category which had a field of 47. The temperature was perfect - mid 60's - but the wind was wicked - but after all, this is windmill country! I stayed with the lead group through the tough first climb. After we turned into the wind before the big descent, it was like a brick wall, and I was on the wrong wheel. I fell back and was unable to regain that ground - the peloton was just out reach - so close. I gained some ground but it was not enough. Then I saw them ride off into the distance. I hit 54 mph on the downhill with the strong tailwind. I then rode for awhile with a group of 3 other women but they were too slow for my liking. I sprinted out, now trying to catch the second lead group which splintered off. I slowed a bit on the second climb in the feed zone, looking for RFA who had my Smart Water. I regrouped with the same women I left behind earlier. A peloton of male racers passed on the down hill and I pulled over to the far right. Low and behold my training mate from 5RCC passes me on the tail of the male peloton. Fair?? I ended up placing 19th - losing two positions on the final 200 meter sprint. Coach Dnitrij - "what happened??" I lost sleep asking myself the same question, reanlayzing the race. Get on the wrong wheel of someone falling back and it is all over before you know it. Live and learn.

Ed Steffani Memorial Gran Prix, April 11, 2009

Our results:

Grandma's Wheelbarrow Race (flying 1 lap):

RFA: 24.4 (1st in 50+ category)

MEA: 26.5 (2nd in Women's)

One Mile Scratch Race:

RFA - 5th

Cat 5 Point-A-Lap

RFA: 4th

Lotto Race:

RFA: 4th

Australian Pursuit:

MEA 3rd out of 11

Overall Omnium:

MEA: 1st Woman/2nd 50+

RFA: 1st 50+

RFA and I raced in the Ed Steffani Memorial Gran Prix at the Hellyer Velodrome, San Jose, CA on Saturday, April 11, 2009. It was a full afternoon of racing and a beautiful day. There were about 17 racers including 3 women (me, my team mate Pam and a junior). We needed six women in order to have our own category, so we competed in the men's category. Oh well, makes you tough! We started out with the Grandma's Wheelbarrow Race which turned out to be a flying 1 lap time trial. I did a 26.5; my team mate Pam had a 25.89, and RFA did a 24.4. Practice, practice, practice. The fastest time was a 22.01. We then did a 3 lap (1 km) scratch race heat and RFA advanced to the finals. Followed by a 5 lap scratch race. At least I finished with the front pack! RFA did a special Point-a-Lap (10 lap) race for the Cat 5s - he said it was brutal. We both did the 25 lap Lotto Race - this is a points race where you don't know when the points lap will be until the bell rings. They can come at any interval - we had 4 points laps in a row! Many racers pulled out at that point. I hung in there and finished with the top 6 - but didn't accumulate any points! RFA got some points. It was a great workout! The fnale was the Australian pursuit! RFA sat this one out. We had seeded positions and I finished third. It was a blast! The officials were still calculating the omnium points when we left - results to follow. This was another first for RFA and me - our first official mass start races. I may never be a sprinter but the workouts are great and will complement my road cycling.

First Match Sprint Tournament - April 5, 2009

RFA and I did our first match sprint tournament at the Hellyer Velodrome in San Jose, CA. We figured we should put the skills that we learned at the Kenny Williams track camp a couple weeks ago to the test! There were 23 racers, including 3 women (counting me) and 2 juniors. We started out by each of us doing a flying 200 meter time trial. Based on our 200 meter times, we were placed into 4 groups of 6. Some of these guys were really fast!! The fastest 200 m time was 11.26 seconds – smokin’! RFA was with the guys in the 3rd group and I was in the 4th group with the other women and the juniors. Then we did several match sprints; some were "two-up" (two sprinters); some "three-up" (three sprinters). We start at the rail, roll off and then do two laps. The first lap is generally cat-and-mouse, each person watching the other to see who is going to make the first move. Once that happens it is a sprint to the finish. It was fun racing with my Webcor team mate because we are both competitive and are so evenly matched in the sprint events. I won one of the three match sprints and my team mate took the other two. The match sprint is an event at the state and national championships, so this was a rare opportunity to practice (most of the seasonal racing at the track is mass start events). But most importantly, it was a blast! The weather was gorgeous – just like summer – close to 80 degrees ‘tho we had some wind to contend with.

Altamont Team Time Trial, April 4, 2009

Today I raced the Altamont 4-person team time trial with Team Webcor/Alto Velo in the Women 35+ category. We placed second of four teams with a time of 42:40. Team Kalyra was first with a 42:18. team Velo Bella was 3rd with 43:48. The Protech team was 4th. We would have won but for my fall at the turn-around!Course: Altamont Pass, Livermore, CA; 15.7 miles out and back; 600 foot climb each way. We had a very strong team, and BTW, we were the combined oldest, the youngest member of our team being 51 (total combined age 223- awesome!!). Hermes and I did a reconnaissance ride last Sunday and the winds we fought fierce winds from the NNE. I was hoping that today, with an earlier start, that we would be lucky with a light breeze – not so. Those windmills were churning with similar wind conditions. I opted for my deep dish carbon Easton Tempest tubulars, rather than disc and tri-spoke, and they worked well in the wind. We didn’t have an opportunity to practice as a team before today. We only had about 30 minutes to practice together before the race, and we tried our best to discuss any eventuality figure out what our order should be. Everyone had their strong moments; team mate Phyllis and I worked hard on the up hills and Pam and Linda were killers on the downhills. We hit over 41 mph. We did have two issues during the ride. I clipped a cone, cutting the turn-around really close, and fell, but was up in a matter of seconds. Luckily it was minor (skinned knee and a ripped leg warmer) and hardly impeded the team at all. Later we found out that the strongest time trialist on the Kalyra team, had also fallen, overlapping a wheel on the outbound leg. That gave me some consolation. On the return leg, one of my team mates got a leg cramp, and in a TT there is no time to stretch it out like one might in a road race. We had to leave her, but it was only a few miles to go. It appeared that most teams sacrificed a rider and finished with 3. Per the rules, 3 riders needed to finish within one meter of each other. This was a really hard effort and I was glad when it was over! We planned on doing a Wente loop afterwards but it was too windy. RFA and I did a nice recovery ride on the Peninsula instead.